It's also important to note that the 80's were a decade which had a lot of social changes going on. A much harder look at white collar crime (in part due to extra scrutinization from the War on Drugs). The rise, fall, and resurrection of the arcade and game industry, the Challenger. Chernobyl - technology is dangerous. Free love was replaced by the AIDS pandemic. MTV opened with "Video Killed the Radio Star." The yuppies were born along with a major recession - the economy was unstable. The US's portrait was tarnished after scandals and botched missions. Crime rates were at an all time high. Generation X was both entering and leaving puberty. Cyberpunk was made in the 80's, and it reflects the era. Don't trust the government. Don't trust the CEOs. Don't trust money. Don't trust anyone with power.
The 80's also had a lot of moral panics about children being seduced for this very reason. This was a new decade, one in which a whole lot of things were changing drastically. There's always been the undercurrent of "kids these days" and the panics that flow along with it, but in the 80's, with the rise of crime and the very overwhelming social changes, people were scared.
The moral panics of the 80's are all very tied together. The most important theme: "Someone is hurting your kids, and they're doing it mentally. They're doing it in a way you can't see. Rock and roll is driving your child to suicide. Satanic abuse cults are kidnapping and torturing kids. D&D is making them insane. You know the world is in trouble right now, so of course these are all so easy to believe, but don't worry - we're here. We're professionals."
